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Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart Wii is a racing game for the Wii console. It is the sixth installment in the main Mario Kart series and the eighth overall. It was released October 12, 2007 for Japan, November 1, 2007 for Europe, November 15, 2007 for Australia, December 3, 2007 for America, and December 21, 2007 for Korea. Similar to every Mario Kart game, Mario Kart Wii includes new features such as new race courses along with other courses that appeared in past Mario Kart games, like its predecessor Mario Kart DS. New items and characters are included, as well as an increased number of players for the races. Mario Kart Wii also introduces the use of bikes that vary in capabilities along with the traditional karts. Game modes are also present such as the Grand Prix, Versus, Battle, and Time Trial, many of them making use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connectionfor worldwide online play. A Wii Wheel is included in most Mario Kart Wii packages. Mario Kart Wii, however, is still compatible with other controllers such as a regular Wii Remote held sideways, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Nintendo GameCube controller, and also the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro. This game requires twenty-three blocks on the player's Wii system to save game data. Also, the game data cannot be copied. As a result, players are not able to transfer this game data onto another Wii. The game also includes its own Wii Channel called the Mario Kart Channel which allow players to play in special tournaments and trade their racing profile with other players around the world. This channel uses seventy-four to eighty-eight blocks (depending on from which region the game is from), but unlike the game data, players can copy the channel onto their SD cards. Mario Kart Wii, unlike the preceding Mario Kart games, has twelve players present in normal races instead of eight. All twelve racers head to the finish in a multi-lap race around a given circuit. Along the way, players may employ items, utilize techniques, and take shortcuts to earn first place. With over 36 million copies of the game sold, Mario Kart Wii is the second best-selling game and the best-selling Mario game for the Wii console.1 Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was terminated by Nintendo starting on May 20th 2014, therefore making it no longer available to play Mario Kart Wii (as well as Mario Kart DS and other games that support WFC) online.2 Gameplay Changes While every previous Mario Kart game allowed for a maximum of eight racers on each course, up to twelve are on the course at a time in Mario Kart Wii. In Mario Kart Wii, players can select twelve types of vehicles (six karts and six bikes) for each of the three classes. Vehicle selection varies depending on the character's size class, and color schemes for available vehicles also vary with regard to character selected. A major departure from prior games is the change of the drifting system. Performing a Mini-Turbo depends on how long players can hold the button for drifting and the angle at which they drift. Drifting can be used strategically and involves managing the drifts to avoid losing speed. It is also unique that there are two drift modes (Automatic and Manual). A new feature named "Tricks" is now also a part of the gameplay. When drivers perform a trick and land successfully, they are able to gain a momentary boost of speed. Tricks consist of mid-air acrobatics and are performed by shaking the Wii Wheel upward, shaking the Wii Remote in the Wii Remote + Nunchuk combo, pressing the on the Classic Controller, or pressing the on the GameCube controller. Players can now look backwards while pressing the button. Motorbikes are introduced in this game. Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina are in an alternate outfit while driving motorbikes, as opposed to their traditional dresses while riding karts, possibly due to the fact that it would've been very difficult for them to ride a motorbike while wearing a dress. Although Wario does have a biker outfit of his own from the WarioWare series, he does not wear it when driving motorbikes as he still wears his classic outfit while driving motorbikes. Special Items which were introduced in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, are not featured in the game. Overall, Mario Kart Wii is based heavily on Mario Kart DS and has some influence from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Mario Kart Wii features a text chat in Online Multiplayer Mode. Users can send pre-written phrases to other users before the series of races starts. There is no facility for a user to type his or her own message4. Also, the text chat is only available when racing or battling against Friends. Another new change is the point system used for Grand Prix races. With twelve racers competing in each race, the point value has increased. Controlling The main feature is the use of the Wii Remote's motion-sensing ability. By tilting the remote, players can steer their karts. Since the Wii Remote is designed to be inserted into the Wii Wheel (it is not an independent controller), players can also play without the Wheel if they choose to. Mario Kart Wii can also be played by connecting the Nunchuk Controller or the Classic Controller, or using the GameCube Controller. Controlling the vehicle is divided up into two sections: Basic and Advanced. Basic Controls * Accelerate: When drivers hold down the corresponding button, the vehicle goes forward. * Steer: Steering lets drivers move around corners. * Brake: Braking slows the vehicle to an abrupt stop. * Reverse: The driver's kart goes backwards if the driver holds the brake button. If a vehicle reaches maximum top speed, the vehicle will drift instead. * Look Behind: Drivers can look behind their vehicle. In this way, drivers can be alert from other drivers incoming to steal their place. Drivers can also use this feature to see where they are going while backing up, or to aim a weapon at an opponent following up. This feature once appeared in Super Mario Kart. * Drift: Drivers drift to keep the vehicle's speed and take corners more easily, with the benefit of getting mini-turbos. The feature can be set to happen automatically or when a button is held. Advanced Controls * Rocket Start: Drivers can perform a speed boost when a race begins. If drivers hold down the corresponding acceleration button right after the countdown timer displays the number 2, then they will receive an extra speed boost when the word GO! appears on the screen. However, if drivers hold down the button for too long, when the final beep is heard, their engine bursts and they get an even worse start than a regular one and take a few seconds to recover. * Mini-Turbo: When drivers Drift for a reasonable amount of time varying on the vehicle used, blue sparks erupt from the vehicle's rear tires. Releasing the drift button gives them a short burst of speed. In a kart, drivers can keep drifting for longer periods to get orange sparks and a longer boost. However, orange sparks cannot be created on bikes. Of course, the drifting stats of the vehicle used also matters. Drivers can also perform a "standing mini-turbo" by holding the brake/drift and acceleration buttons at the same time. This is helpful for vehicles with slow acceleration, as it will get the vehicle to top speed. A mini-turbo can't be performed when drifting is set to automatic, but the standing mini-turbo can. * Jumps: If players are jumping over ramps or mushrooms, the length of the jump can be controlled by up (shorter jump) and down (longer jump). * Tricks: Drivers can pull off a trick when they jump in order to gain a momentary mini-turbo. Drivers can perform a trick by flicking the Wii Remote, pressing the on Classic Controller, or on the GameCube Controller in any direction when going off a ramp or hill. They obtain a speed boost when landing. * Wheelie: Wheelies can be performed only when drivers are riding Bikes. Drivers are able to increase their speed when they lift up the front of their bike. While drivers hold the front of the bike up, the bike can hardly turn. The wheelie can be ended by braking, hopping, waiting for the wheelie to end, or simply setting the Wii Wheel or Wii Remote back down or pressing . If drivers are bumped into while they are performing a Wheelie, they lose most of their speed. * Bullet Bill: If flying as Bullet Bill, its route can be controlled a little bit with left and right. The range may differ for every part of a track. Modes of Play * Grand Prix (1 player) In this mode, the player races against eleven other CPU players in a quest to finish in first. There are eight cups to choose from, ranging from the most to the least difficult. Drivers earn points by placing within twelve positions (see chart above). A driver with the most points at the end of the four races wins the cup. The driver will be awarded a grade for their racing performance at the end of the cup. * Time Trial (1 player) Drivers race for the fastest time on a selected course. The fastest record is able to be raced again as a Ghost. Drivers can also race staff records, or Regional Records/Champions and World Records/Champions (Wi-Fi must be used) and Friend Records (Friend must be registered, friend must send the Ghost for Ghost Races, and Wi-Fi also must be used.) * VS Race (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Drivers can race to their own custom settings, but it is otherwise relatively the same to Grand Prix, other than the fact that drivers can see the other racers' character's names. The driver may choose a Solo Race, where they try to win for themselves, or Team Race, where two teams, red and blue, try to win for the team in order to gather the most points and beat the other. * Battle (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Drivers team up with each other in a battle for the most points. Items only work against the opposite team, and have no effect on the team that use them. The player can only select the Standard Kart or Bike. There are two ways to battle: ** Balloon Battle: All drivers get three balloons and must use the items to hit the opponents to pop their balloons and get one point for every hit. If drivers lose all of their balloons, one point is deducted and remain out for a while to be brought back to the battle with three balloons once more. ** Coin Runners: The goal for drivers is to obtain more coins with their team than the other. In the top right corner of the screen, the score shows, which are the coins obtained altogether for each team. If drivers hit opponents, opponents drop their Coins. The certain amount of Coins dropped depends on the item that hits the player, and the amount of coins that the player has already gathered. * Ghost Race (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) A Time Trial race with Ghosts made by players around the world with relatively the same skill level to the actual player. * Tournament (also known as Competition) (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Drivers would compete in a timed competition with specific goals (see list below). This mode serves as the replacement of Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS. New tournaments were posted twice a month. The tournaments were discontinued after the first tournament in May 2014 was over. Grand Prix Mode initially allows only Karts in 50cc and only Bikes in 100cc; if all the Grand Prix's are won in a single engine class, the other vehicle type will become available for it. Mirror Mode is unlocked by scoring first place on all 150cc Grand Prix. Other information * Additionally, in this game, both normal races and battles are playable online through the use of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC). This is the second game in the series to utilize the WFC, the third to support online connectivity and the first to allow for online battles. Races and Battles will now cater up to 12 players via Wi-Fi connection.5 * Just like Mario Kart DS, it is not possible to play Grand Prix with multiple players. Players can now only win cup trophies by playing alone. * In Battle Mode, the player can only play in teams. Also, the Spiny Shell makes its first appearance in Battle Mode. It chases the player of the opposite team with the most points. Also, Lightning is an item in Battle Mode. It shrinks the drivers of the opposite team and makes them lose their items, but does not take a balloon or drop coins. Tournaments Mario Kart Wii introduced a new mode for the Mario Kart series, entitled "Tournament Mode" (also known as Competition mode in the European version). Tournament Mode was somewhat similar to Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS. Tournaments could be played on the Mario Kart Channel, as long as the Mario Kart Wii disc was in the Wii. Tournaments required an Internet connection, and WiiConnect24 to be turned on before they can be played. After a while, a tournament was retired to make room for a new one. However, the rankings of older tournaments could still be viewed on the rankings table. The tournaments began in May 2008, and continued even after all WiiConnect24 services were discontinued on June 28, 2013. The tournament service itself was later discontinued on May 20, 2014, the date on which the Nintendo WFC servers shut down. The varieties of tournaments include: * VS Race - A standard VS race; however, race courses were somewhat altered. * Time Trial - A standard Time Trial; however, race courses were somewhat altered. * Numbered Gates - The player had to drive through ordered gates as fast as possible. * Coin Collecting - The player had to collect the coins on the stage as fast as possible. * Boss Battle - The player had to fight against a special boss. Licenses Licenses replace normal save files. It is the first Mario Kart game to feature save files. Each license contains each player's data, their Mii, nickname, Friend Code, and a table including all categories and cups with an empty space. After a cup is won, the corresponding space is filled in with a colored square: gold for first place, silver for second, bronze for third. If at any time the Mii being used for Mario Kart Wii is deleted from the Mii Channel, the in-game Mii is also deleted. Friend Roster Players can add different people around the world on to their Mario Kart Wii Friend Roster. Two people need to add the Friend Codes on their licenses. A player can have up to 30 people on their Friend Roster. If two people are friends on a roster, one can open a room, which allows who is ever friends with the person to join that room. In the room, the players who joined can send messages. If a player who added the person who created the room, and another person joins and the player has not added them, they have an ability to do so. The host of the room can choose a VS Race, Team VS Race, Balloon Battle, and Coin Runners. If a player joins a race when another player is online and friends with them, the player who added the player in the race can join that race and race with the friend. Items Mario Kart Wii returns three items: the Giant Mushroom, the POW Block, and the Thunder Cloud(from the Mario Kart Arcade GP installments). Items can be earned by driving through Item Boxes on the courses, just like in previous games. Once a player has done so, an item will be selected via the Item Roulette. Players can use items by pressing . In general, players tend to obtain a weak item such as a Banana or a Green Shell when they are in first. However, if players are in a lower place, they obtain a slightly more powerful item such as a Red Shell or Lightning is more frequent. Usually, the lower the place of the player, the rarer and more powerful the item they get. Stars, Mega Mushrooms, and Bullet Bills are examples of powerful items as they provide speed boosts and invincibility.